Jack Reardon (25 November 1914 – 22 July 1991) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s and who later became a sports journalist. An Australian international and both a New South Wales and Queensland representative , he played club football in country New South Wales before moving to Queensland and playing in the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership und ...

. He is also well known for his football journalism and being the first to suggest ' state of origin' selection rules for interstate rugby league.

Playing career

Born in

Nambour, Queensland Nambour is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 12,145 people. Geography Nambour is north of the state capital ...

, Reardon came from

Ballina, New South Wales Ballina () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of the Ballina Shire local government area. It lies north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Ballina's urban population at the end of 2021 was 46,19 ...

to play for the Marist Brothers club in Lismore. He achieved selection for the

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the an ...

before being lured north in 1936 to play in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for the Norths club. In his first year in Brisbane he was selected to represent Queensland, and the following year he was named vice-captain for the 1937-38

Kangaroo Tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...

. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 212. He captained his club, Norths, to a premiership in 1938 and in 1939 was named captain of Queensland. He won another premiership with Norths in 1940.

Post-playing career

Reardon later became a football journalist for Brisbane's '' Courier Mail''. He suggested the adoption of ' state of origin' selection rules as far back as 1964 but was met with derision from New South Wales. He died in 1991. For his thirty years' service as the ''Courier Mails senior rugby league writer, in 2006 he was inducted into

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

's Sports Media Hall of Fame. On 16 August 2008, the year of the Centenary of Rugby League, Norths Devils announced their greatest team ever, naming Reardon at centre.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reardon, Jack 1914 births 1991 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league journalists Australian rugby league players Ballina Seagulls captains Ballina Seagulls players New South Wales rugby league team players Norths Devils players Queensland rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Nambour, Queensland